Nikolic says ICTY a measure for a Serb

Tomislav Nikolic

Photograph: HINA/ Damir SENČAR /ds

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic on Thursday would not comment on Vojislav Seselj's acquittal in detail, saying only that "a measure for a Serb" was whether the UN tribunal in The Hague acquitted or convicted him.

The RTS national television channel cited Nikolic as saying that he was indifferent to the acquittal of Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj and to him as a person.

"I had not thought about what could happen, but being acquitted or convicted by the ICTY is a measure for a Serb," Nikolic told reporters in Belgrade.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said he would voice his opinion on Seselj's acquittal and the verdict against Radovan Karadzic, who was sentenced by the ICTY to 40 years last week, on Friday.

Earlier on Thursday, the ICTY acquitted Seselj on all counts of the indictment for war crimes in Croatia, Vojvodina and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Beirut (dpa) - Syrian government forces and their allies advanced deeper into the shrinking rebel-held enclave in eastern Aleppo on Wednesday, seizing the Old City, while demanding the armed opposition groups leave the area.